Finance Director, LHH BNP & DACH Cluster -(12-18 Month Maternity Leave)

The scope of the Interim (maternity cover) LHH Northern Europe (NE) Finance Director is to support the Career Transition & Mobility (CT&M), Learning & Development (L&D), and Professional Recruitment Solutions (PRS) businesses in Northern Europe.

The primary responsibility of the Finance Director is to oversee all finance, accounting, budgeting, forecast and other reporting activities in the region and ensure accurate and timely submission of all financial reports and audit requests. Ensures compliance with Adecco Group Policies and management of relevant risks.

The Northern Europe Finance Director is a member of the management team and partners with the LHH NE leader and the management team to be a trusted advisor, ensuring decisions are aligned with the groups strategic direction and based on sound data. Drive profitable growth, where possible anticipating opportunities/risks, providing data led recommendations and ensuring there are decisive accountable action plans. Lead on Finance components of projects. Partner with the LHH EMEA FD and LHH Global Head of Finance on NE and Global strategic issues and projects. Lead and develop the NE Finance team.

Reporting Relationships:

·Reports directly to the LHH EMEA Finance Director with a strong dotted line to the Northern Europe Cluster Leader

·Other stakeholders include:

oLHH Global Head of Finance, Corporate Finance and Compliance teams

oNE TAG Finance teams

oThe NE Management Team and the wider business, this may include Head of Business Lines, Head of Sales, Head of Operations and Head of Support functions, such as HR, IT and Marketing.

Direct Reports:

·Northern Europe finance team: 14 in team, 3 direct roports

·This includes Financal Accounting & Compliance, Financial Planning and Analysis (FP&A)/Business Partnering, Billing, Collections (AR), AP, Tax & Treasury

Location:

·Ideally Switzerland, Germany, Netherlands, Belgium or Poland, however there is the possibility this position could be located anywhere in Europe

Travel Requirement:

·Estimated at 10-20% - to local Switzerland, Germany, Belgium, Poland and Netherlands offices and to other European countries for global/regional meetings as required

Languages:

·English required, German and/or French a plus

Financial Accounting & Compliance

·Oversees Finance function within the NE cluster

·Drive process improvement and change leading to a stronger control environment / ensuring that appropriate systems and internal controls are implemented and maintained

·Ensure compliance with Adecco Group Policies and management of relevant risks

·Ensure compliance with all external legislative requirements and Tax appropriate to the countries as a legal entity operating in the country. Including International law and tax

·Ensuring the timely and accurate preparation of LHH financial statements in accordance with US GAAP, Group Policies and Controls.This includes submission of the LHH legal entities P&L and Balance Sheets, timely and accurate production of statutory accounts, Tax Packages and other internal financial reports/schedules (e.g. FRT/HFM/GRP/MRL/QLR etc)

·Ensure account reconciliations are prepared monthly by each country and aged item’s are actively being investigated/resolved

·Work with auditors (internal, external and ICS) and proactively project manage the resolution of open audit points

·Manage financial risk and ensure adequate provisions are recorded

·Ensure tax returns are filed timely / work closely with Maitland and Zurich Tax

·Other Financial Accounting, Tax and Compliance activities as required

Financial Planning & Analysis

·Be a trusted Finance Partner to the NE leadership team, partner with the LHH NE cluster leader and the management team:

oEnsuring decisions are aligned with the groups strategic direction and based on sound data

oDrive profitable growth, where possible anticipating opportunities/risks, providing data led recommendations and ensuring there are decisive accountable action plans

oLead on the financials for business projects or on NE finance projects

·Ensuring the timely and accurate preparation of the annual budgets and monthly forecasts providing challenge and insights as appropriate

·Ensure the timely/accurate preparation of internal management presentations and reporting (GM’s, KPIs etc) ensuring understanding of the underlying drivers of material variances in the financials (Vs Fcast, budget and PY) / providing recommendations to remediate

·Proactive management of the financials:

oPartner closely with the business to maximize opportunities and minimize financials risks

oEnsure expenses are managed in line with revenues and recommend early action plans for any deviation from budget / targets

oPrepare contingency plans for any slowdown of business

oMonitor and tracks KPIs monthly for each line of business/country ensuring variances are understood and provide recommendation to remediate deviation from target

·Prepare competitor and market share analysis as needed

·Lease Management: review of leases with focus on the long term, setting up space appropriately for downturn (start 9 months prior to lease expiration date) and reducing expenses whenever possible; Prepare assessment of possible option; complete RETA form and all required analysis of space needs (Programming guide)

·Compensation and Bonus plan modelling - partner closely with HR and regional/global Finance, prepare monthly detailed schedules by person to support monthly accrual, reviews commission calculations for region

·Employees/Contractor risk management and documentation: ensure proper classification / documentation and compliance with local and tax laws for associates and contractors; perform quarterly risk assessment and document results in “matrix” tool.

·Contract Management: ensure compliance / roll out contract Matrix template / work closely with Global Finance and Legal

·Risk Management: Capture items for quarterly risk report, assess reserves required (if applicable) with adequate support for analysis, and implement required mitigating actions (audit risks, employee related risks, lawsuit, etc.)

·Ongoing review of vendor spend and opportunities for savings

EVA / DSO / Cach Management

·Manage Invested Capital

·Ongoing focus on reducing outstanding Account Receivable and DSO (or achieving target) and implement action plan when required

·Timely escalation of customers at risk, management of bankruptcies and evaluation of reserves

·Review operational process (from contracting to collection) when needed and suggest/drive forward improvements

·Partner with Sales and Operations to achieve desire results

Lead and Support NE Finance Team

·Provide strong leadership to the NE finance team

·Oversee all finance, accounting, budgeting, forecast and other reporting activities in the region and ensure accurate and timely submission of all financial reporting

·Define clear priorities, hold the team accountable, review their work, ensure respect of deadlines and provide feedback

·Ensure the Finance structure is fit for purpose ensuring that there are development and progression opportunities to help the team grow as well as adequate succession planning

·Elevate the Finance team to provide support and insights to the business to strengthen confidence and decision making, enabling better business outcomes

·Travel from time to time to offices to review and support their work on site

·Improve Peakon / Great Place to Work engagement scores Implement actions defined in plan

·Demonstrated history of building strong working relationships with direct reports, key stakeholders and the wider business

·Demonstrated history of assisting in solving business problems and project managing tasks through to completion.

·Strong understanding of financial and operational details, including understanding the detailed P&L, analyzing operational trends, understanding the concept of DSC (Delivery Staff Costs), managing reporting and tracking.

·Experience in managing a medium size team of financial professionals, such as management experience of the following departments: FP&A, GL, AR, AP, Payroll, Tax & Treasury

·Solid experience coordinating audit activities and managing reporting, budget development and analysis, accounts payable and receivable, general ledger, payroll, and accounting for investments

·Strong understanding of operational details

·Technical US & Local GAAP knowledge and understanding of key differences between the 2. Must understand revenue recognition requirements

·Project management abilities, particularly in a transformational environment

·M&A experience: targets evaluation and recommendation, including business case, preparation of the valuation model/ DCF, experience in conducting due diligence and post-deal integration, purchase accounting experience

·Experience in new accounting / front-office system roll-out

·Audit experience (internal or external)

·Modelling experience (compensation plans, business case, etc.)

·FP&A experience: Budgeting, Forecasting, variance analysis, including competitor and market analysis

·Real Estate: experience in managing real estate portfolio and making recommendation for alternate solutions while staying on top of leases expiration dates

·Background of process improvement / operations inside a sales-focused organization

·Ability to navigate complex mid-office applications (knowledge of ORBIT a plus)

·Computer literate with good excel skills and solid understanding of accounting software principles:

oAdvanced Excel

oAdvanced PowerPoint

oIntermediate Microsoft Word for Windows

oJD Edwards a plus

·Demonstrated strategic thinking and ability to add value and provide recommendations to Senior Management with concrete action plans

·Ability to build long term growth plan supporting the defined strategy

·Understand & mitigate risk when conducting business

·Attention to detail, good judgment showing logical decision making

·Inquisitive and proactive, “can do” positive attitude and a hands-on approach

·Strong interpersonal and communication skills; experience in effectively communicating key data, including presentations to senior, board or other outside partners

·High personal energy, coupled with a genuine enthusiasm for achieving operational excellence

·Maintain composure under stress

·Deadline and action oriented

·Delegation & motivation capabilities

·Time and priority management

·Personal qualities of integrity and credibility

·Bachelor of Commerce/Business or related field and qualified accountant required.

·10+ years’ experience in accounting/finance field and in leading teams, with most recent role being in a Finance Management position

·Understanding of human resources industries and business models a plus

The world of work is ever-changing and unpredictable. Organizations are constantly fighting a battle to find and maintain their competitive advantage: their talent. To succeed, they can’t just rely on what works today, working tomorrow. They need to be ready for next.

LHH exists to help individuals, teams, and organizations find and prepare for what’s next. With integrated, end-to-end solutions that include Advisory, Professional Recruitment, Career Transition, and Learning & Talent Development, we are uniquely positioned to work together to make a positive impact on the future of every person we work with at every key career moment.

LHH is at the forefront of change to build a bigger, bolder workforce. Every day is a new day to prepare for, and we’re here to make sure the future works for everyone.

A division of the Adecco Group – the world’s leading HR solutions provider – LHH’s 8,000 colleagues and coaches work with 15,000 organizations in over 60 countries around the world. We successfully help close to 500,000 candidates to enhance their careers every year. Our local expertise, global infrastructure, and industry-leading technology allow us to manage the complexity of critical workforce initiatives and the challenges of transformation. It’s why most of the Fortune Global 500 companies choose to work with us.

This is LHH.

Ready for Next.

www.lhh.com

LHH is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

For additional information on our Diversity and Inclusion policy, please consult the following link:https://www.lhh.com/us/en/diversity-and-inclusion